A top Iranian nuclear scientist is assassinated. Everyone gets pardons this Christmas! And the attorney general takes steps to ensure the investigation of the Russia probe continues in the Biden administration. Plus, the gang welcomes special guest Noah Efron of "The Promised Podcast."
How does the authority Attorney General Bill Barr used to appoint John Durham compare with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller in 2017?
Lawfare’s daily roundup of national security news and opinion.
The arguments about the scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act focused on the statute’s text and purpose—and some interesting hypotheticals.
The Winter 2020 Supplement for Bradley, Deeks, & Goldsmith, Foreign Relations Law: Cases and Materials (7th ed. 2020) is now available on Lawfare.
Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh reportedly may have been assassinated using a remote-controlled machine gun. Such devices are unfortunately easy to construct.
The top Iranian nuclear scientist has been killed, apparently in an Israeli strike. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who has long been the mastermind of the Iranian nuclear program, was gunned down in an attack with a remote control machine gun. Iranian reprisals are expected, although their timing and nature is not clear. It also puts the incoming Biden administration, which is looking to bring back the Iran nuclear deal, in a bit of a pickle.
A newly-unsealed court document shows that the Justice Department is investigating a possible scheme involving political contributions in exchange for a presidential pardon.
Lawfare’s daily roundup of national security news and opinion.
The label misunderstands the conflict and would harm Yemeni civilians more than the Houthis themselves.
I chatted this week with Rasheed Griffith of the China in the Caribbean Podcast. I highly recommend you check out his channel!
We discuss:
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Our interview in this episode is with Michael Daniel, formerly the top cybersecurity adviser in the Obama administration’s National Security Council and currently the CEO of the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA). Michael lays out CTA’s mission. Along the way he also offers advice to the Biden cyber team—drawing in part on the wisdom of Henry Kissinger.
And…we’re back! Tune in as Professors Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney discuss the latest in national security legal developments, including:
“American companies are in a bind.” So argue Bill Priestap and Holden Triplett, who have written a series of articles for Lawfare making the case that more and more state intelligence agencies are turning their attention to private businesses, using the tools of espionage in order to build their
President-elect Joe Biden chose not to go to court. But the Administrative Procedure Act provides tools that a winning candidate could use to force the hand of a reluctant General Services Administration.
In the coronavirus era, doctors visits have gone virtual—much like nearly every aspect of everyday life. So telehealth means a patient talks to their doctor right from the epicenter of their personal world. And those little things that make us human? They’re front and center.
The inspector general’s quarterly report provides an interesting status update on the conflict in Afghanistan in light of the Trump administration’s expedited drawdown.
With Election 2020 coming to a close, President-elect Joe Biden is moving to assemble his administration and set his policy priorities. The new leader faces many challenging technology issues from antitrust, privacy, and content moderation to China and digital disparities made worse by COVID-19 as well as the kinds of folks to put into key tech policy positions. He does this at a time of diminished Democratic numbers in the House of Representatives and a Senate where party control is yet to be determined.
Lawfare’s weekly round-up of event announcements and employment opportunities.